We cannot control the pitch, says Dhoni after draw

Nottingham, July 14: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has lauded his bowling attack for its performance in the first Test versus England, which fizzled out to a tame draw on an unresponsive pitch here yesterday (July 13).

The visitors scored 457 and 391/9d in their two innings while the hosts were bowled out for 496 in their only essay. "We cannot control the pitch. We have to make do of what we have and there have been a lot of positives in this match," said Dhoni.

"The bowlers did really well on especially on a wicket like this. Even in bowling 160 overs they kept their intensity and put in a lot of effort. Each of them bowled nearly 25 to 30 to 35 overs and yet they kept running in."

"Overall our batting looked good too. Murali Vijay did really well and the others as well. Some batsmen get off to a great start in their careers and others take time. It is not always about results. If you look at the previous few tours, there has been a lot of improvement in our batsmen," he added.

The pitch was the central theme of the Test match and it was devoid of any help to the bowlers at all, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar scoring two half-centuries, Stuart Binny, Mohammad Shami and James Anderson scoring maiden Test fifties.

Anderson was also involved in a world record 198-run stand with Joe Root who scored 154 runs. This was after Vijay set the tone with his 146 runs in the first innings.

"When you play overseas, you want to play on pitches that are suited to the home conditions. When you go to India you dont want flat tracks but turning pitches because scoring runs on those pitches it gives you pleasure.

"In South Africa you want to play on seaming tracks and do well there. In England you want pitches and conditions that suit swing bowling. Hopefully going forward wickets will have more life in them," said the Indian skipper.